Shiri Negari

Jun 18, 2002 - Shiri Negari, 21, of Jerusalem, was one of 19 people killed in a suicide bombing at the Patt junction in Egged bus no. 32A traveling from Gilo to the center of Jerusalem.

The terrorist boarded the bus at 7:50 A.M. at the stop in Beit Safafa, an Arab neighborhood opposite Gilo, and almost immediately detonated the large bomb which he carried in a bag stuffed with ball bearings. The blast destroyed the front half of the bus, packed with people on their way to work and schoolchildren. Of the 19 victims, 17 were residents of the Gilo neighborhood; 74 people were injured.

Shiri Negari was to have celebrated her 22nd birthday in 10 days and her family had planned a surprise birthday party for her. Her brother Shahar, 15, said Shiri had missed her regular bus to work and he and their mother had taken her on a short cut so she would not have to wait for the next one. Shiri boarded the bus and was mortally injured in the explosion. The paramedics who treated her in the ambulance reported that she was calm despite her severe injuries. She was well aware of what had happened, and cooperated in the attempts to keep her conscious. She gave her personal details accurately, told the paramedics where she felt pain and stretched out her arm so as she could be given an intravenous infusion. She died on the operating table.

Shiri, the third in a religious family of five children, had magnetized people with her beauty since she was a baby. She had never cut her hair, and her long blonde braid became a kind of personal symbol. She had graduated from the Pelech high school in Jerusalem, majoring in biology and literature. Her cousin Dvir Netanely described her as unique and extremely energetic. "She was very talented and lived life to the full. She sang, danced and had many friends," he said.

Shiri served in the army as a soldier-teacher, working with young school drop-outs. Afterwards she traveled for a year in the United States, and then for another year in South America. She climbed mountains, trekked, rafted, saw icebergs, rode horses, scuba-dived, climbed an active volcano, learned Spanish, but most of all enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. Shiri used to sign her e-mails home with the signature "Shiri Negari - World Traveler".

Shiri returned home on the eve of Passover this year. She had a temporary job in a bank, where she planned to work until the beginning of the next academic year when she was to start her undergraduate studies. She planned to study dentistry or biology at Hebrew University.

Her mother Esther works in the Central Bureau of Statistics and her father Tuvia is a well-known dentist.

Shiri Negari was buried in Jerusalem. She is survived by her parents, two brothers and two sisters.

Memorial website - http://www.geocities.com/ShiriNegari/